Jelly,

Simply passing on a quote. But I did work fish and game violations for a dozen years or so as part of the Hwy Patrol job.

Was involved with a logger who wAs climbing on a slash pile (brush and logs)with a yellow 5 gal can of diesel setting it on fire. Who was shot by a hunter who thought he was a MOOSE. He survived, but was handicapped.

The violations I saw continually were very surprising

I stand by my belief that there are a lot of slob hunters, as I saw a lot of it.

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:
we had a guy shoot, gut and drag out a LLAMA several yrs back.

My local game warden used to say a game tag in the pocket somhow drained 50 IQ points and ALL common sense away.

I was born and raised in N. Idaho, shot my first elk at 15. Lots of elk, moose, deer mountain goats, etc there, at least back then.

Got to talking to a state agent at a check station one evening, talking about the abject stupidity of some of the folks.

He told me of a couple of out of state guys he had checked out that afternoon. They told him they had killed an antelope, so he had to check it for the records. Turns out it was a mangy old coyote!

When I asked him if he told them about it, he just smiled, and said he wondered how it would taste and if it was very tough. We both laughed a good bit over that.

Talking with some state game wardens at a check station up the clearwater river, and they told me that they had checked out a couple guys from California that afternoon, and they had shot a forest service mule, thinking it was an elk. And that was some 65 years ago.

^^^Most likely to get shot during gun deer season in Wisconsin.

I liked it when the game warden set up fake deer by the roadside. Boy they got blasted from the beds of pickup trucks and the like. The fines were hefty. The other funny one was when a guy shot a deer during archery season. He stuck an arrow in the hole and took it to the station thinking the warden would not notice. The Xray told the tale.

Deer gun season is a big deal in Wisconsin. Schools are closed so the kids can go with their Dads. The locals are generally pretty responsible, and it is just nice being out in the woods. No dogs allowed like here in the South, but you can organize drives.

I also get a chuckle out of the "high fence" hunters who post pics of the trophy kills. Fake hunters and posers.


"Yeah - look at the Red Stag I shot in Maine. All I had to do is wait for it to walk over to the feeder."

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:


My dad was a hunter; all my male uncles were hunters; and I suspect that my grandfathers were, too (they were old enough when I saw them that I never witnessed it). They were all stouthearted and moral men, and I will not allow their memories to be sullied in this way.

flashguy

My female uncle was quite the hunter, too. She was known for taking down bucks bare handed.....

HAhahah. You can proofread my reports for me!

This years total deer take was 188,712.

So that's neat.

^^^
That's 188,712 fewer road hazards.

Only 95,000 in Iowa

Smarter deer in Iowa!

My nephew claims that as much as 25% of the Iowa deer meet is donated to shelters for the homeless/ needy.

I wonder if there is a way to see if that's fact or fiction?

I can believe the 25%, I know here in elk country, that quite a bit of the meat is donated.

Our lake place borders the Superior National Forest. We can be sitting out by the fire and it can be as late as ten or midnight and all of a sudden you will hear a rifle crack off in the distance. Most likely poachers or folks thinning out the hated wolf population.

I have met and have acquantices whom I know keep as many fish as they want and who will hunt deer all season long. Chances of actually getting caught are rather slim and the penalties for first time offenders are not much. There are more people who color outside the lines of the fish and game rules than one would think.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
I liked it when the game warden set up fake deer by the roadside. Boy they got blasted from the beds of pickup trucks

They do that in Virginia and one year I was driving a road in the wee early morning hours on a Wildlife Management Area and got to a bend in the road and my headlights lit up a large 8+ point buck standing broadside on the side of the road at the bend. There was no not seeing it. I was sure it was a decoy because it was too perfect. I got to about 25 yards and it turned and ran into the woods. I never saw a decoy in person that Virginia's Dept, of Game and Inland Fisheries used, but the ones I saw in a state magazine looked like it was made from a full body deer mount and had a swiveling head.

I’ve been hunting in the National Forest in Texas for the last two seasons and 30 years before that while growing up. My uncle and I were always concerned about other hunters intentionally or accidentally taking us out.

The county where I hunt has a 13” inside beam width or a spike at least one side antler restriction so a buck can’t be taken just for wearing antlers. Because of having to discern antler size AND points you would think incidents of hunters being shot would cease or decline.

Since we have that restriction of discernment, I STRONGLY believe anyone taking an animal in violation of game rules and the ‘accidental’ injuring/killing of a person while hunting should be prosecuted as international acts.

The stories each year of hunters being ‘mistaken’ for game animals INFURIATES me to no end! Deer hunters in trees being taken out, and the shooters claiming they believed they were shooting at deer can’t and shouldn’t fly.

Yes, accidents with guns happen, but the intentional firing of a gun at an ‘unknown’ target should be a thing of the past.

I know a fella with 60 acres of old growth trees and 40 acres of crop land on the Iowa River.

He has put 4 locks on access gate and torn down two deer stands in 7 years.

And put up 12 signs .

The poachers are persistent,

quote:

Originally posted by TigerDore:
Back in the late 80s or early 90s, I recall reading about some city fellows from NY who took up deer hunting in upstate NY. Apparently their ability to identify an actual deer was so bad that some of the farmers were forced to paint the word "cow" on the sides of their cattle in fluorescent paint.
.

Old story up in N. Idaho where I grew up! People were painting their animals, tying blankets etc around them, etc.

I was checking out of a game commission check station one evening and got into a discussion with the checker. Ended up about peeing my pants when he told me about a guy who had checked out about an hour before. Seems the guy was from Kansas and stopped to check his deer. The checker was giggling like a little girl when he told me that that "deer" was in fact a coyote.

I asked him if he had told the guy that it was a coyote, and he said no. Just giggling when he thought about numbnuts eating it.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
OK, let's get a grip here. (I'm not a hunter, but I do own guns. Hunting is just not my thing.) Consider those hundreds of thousands of hunters who take to the woods every November, and total up the number of unintentional shootings of humans. I don't have the statistics, but I'd bet that the hunting fields are safer than the streets of any major city after dark. Don't rain on all the hunters because a few are careless or uninformed. You all say the same thing about gun owners--don't blame them all when a few do something wrong.

My dad was a hunter; all my male uncles were hunters; and I suspect that my grandfathers were, too (they were old enough when I saw them that I never witnessed it). They were all stouthearted and moral men, and I will not allow their memories to be sullied in this way.

flashguy

I have hunted in several US states as well as Germany and Iran. When we lived in Maryland (many years ago now) I went deer hunting as we could use the meat. I came home very early when I had established that the woods were FULL of hunters, and it sounded like a fire fight out there.

I've never understood how you could shoot a person. If you're shooting at "something moving in that bush" - you're not identifying your target. Every hunt I've been on requires you to know if it has a beard or has antlers or how many points it has, what type of duck it is, etc. You have to identify and know what the target is before you can decide if it is legal to shoot it.
So, how do you shoot a person or a cow if you've correctly identified the target before pulling the trigger ?
Turkey hunting is especially scary if the woods are full, because you are sitting by a tree making turkey noises - hoping that some idiot doesn't just start shooting at the noise (again - without identifying that the turkey in question is bearded or not...).